Newcastle United’s CEO Darren Eales has hit back at the persistent transfer speculation surrounding the club’s star players, particularly Alexander Isak.
Eales expressed frustration at the constant chatter, but acknowledged it as an inevitable part of modern football, when discussing the relentless speculation about Newcastle’s key men potentially departing Tyneside.
The conversation came with local media in the aftermath of the Magpies announcing their financial results for 2023/24, with revenue up 28% to £320.3m.Eales issued an official statement through the club before talking to the press.
Speaking to Luke Edwards at The Telegraph, Eales admitted his “sense of annoyance” that Newcastle are constantly talked about as a level beneath other clubs despite our trajectory.
All signs from within the club point that Newcastle will invest in their first team squad this summer after allowing the squad to go stale over the last three windows, and Eales ambition is to take the Toon to the very top despite abject rumours about player departures.
“It is part and parcel of the world we live in, but it is frustrating,” said Eales. “It is part of what football is, everybody wants to have a story [transfer speculation] and talk about it.
“But when you think about the growth of Newcastle, we have the ambition to be a top club. There is a sense of annoyance as we are almost seen as the next category down and it is fair game to talk about our players.
“But we are striving, as a club, to be at the top table and we want our best players here. And to be honest it shows the value Isak has that they talk about him all the time.”
Isak was heavily linked with Arsenal in January, with talk since the winter window being that Liverpool will offer Darwin Nunez plus cash for Toon’s talisman. The latest rumour:PSG to offer three players plus cash for Isak, they don’t stop coming.
Isak is contracted with Newcastle until 2028 and the belief is that talks this summer will see his wages bumped up. That hasn’t stopped the rumour mill continuing to spin, something Eales takes positives from.
Newcastle’s CEO added: “You would rather have people talking about players than not, in the sense we know he is a world-class player and he is somebody, obviously, other clubs would covet because he is an incredible player.
“You see it in his all-round game. He is not just a great finisher, some of the things he does… I still think back to his assist at Everton, he has the ability to do that.”